Scientific publications
Eric Belmond Biram à Ngon
Other affiliations: Institut de Recherches Géologiques et Minières
Noel Christiane Wilfreid Betsi
Serge Gwos Nhiomock
Harissou
Nathaniel Larry Lactio
Bolivar Far Ndourwe
Mathias Nwaha
Nyame Mbia Donald-L’Or
Laure Yvonne Tchouapi
Ghislain Ulric Tchouta
Jean Dzavi
Other affiliations: Institut de Recherches Géologiques et Minières
Marie Anita Temgoua Zemo* (Corresponding author)
Bernard Tossou Atchrimi
Délagnon Assou
Blaise Rollinat Mboyé
Diversity
Urban sprawl leads to the degradation of aquatic environments and, consequently, to the destruction of biodiversity. With the aim of highlighting the distribution profile of benthic macroinvertebrates in the city of Yaoundé and its surroundings according to the level of degradation, this study was carried out in seven rivers. A total of 144 taxa of benthic macroinvertebrates, belonging to 74 families, 15 orders, five classes, and three phyla, were collected from seven rivers in urban, peri-urban, and forest environments on Yaoundé and its surroundings. The self-organizing map (SOM) analysis tool was used to group the collected taxa from all stations into three clusters or affinity cores. The indicator value analysis (IndVal) method was employed to determine, based on their ecological preferences, which organisms were most likely to belong to each group. Out of the 144 collected taxa, only 44 were indicated to represent the three different groups. Thus, three communities were defined: the Hydropsyche community, with Hydropsyche sp. as the predominant taxon in Group III, characterizing well-oxygenated and low-mineralized stations; the Hydrocyrius community, where the species Hydrocyrius sp. predominates in Group I, describing stations with low oxygenation and moderate mineralization; and the Lumbriculidae community, where Lumbriculidae is the taxon associated with environments with high mineralization and critical oxygenation. These two methods contribute to the biomonitoring of tropical aquatic environments, firstly by grouping organisms by affinity and then identifying those that reflect the environment conditions. This facilitates the detection of changes in the quality of hydrosystems and guides management and conservation efforts.
